Friday, May 18, 2012

Actually I'm not a big fan of him..I just want to see his perform live..I want to see how good he's performing all his famous songs..

It was a great experience to see a first Korean artist perform live in Kota Kinabalu. He sang five songs including the famous one 'Girlfriend'..I sang along with him but only at certain part that I know

People were screaming whenever he start to sing a song. For me, Jay Park as good as other K-Pop singer.

I heard from my friend that he was with 2PM before. I didn't know much about him as I had never google to search info about him.

But for me, all of his hardwork paid off as he is now success in creating a name in K-POP industy. Wish u have a great future in the K-POP industry Jay Park..

Even I'm not a big fan of him..but I really enjoy his performance..I'm glad that I'm one of the audience enjoy Jay Park performance live in KK

Hope more Korean artists will perform live in Kota Kinabalu..how I wish one of them is Jang Geun Su, my favourite hero in Korean Drama..start following him from Marry Stayed Out All Night, You're Beautiful and the latest drama Love Rain

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The city of Kota Kinabalu is still a far cry in terms of providing facilities for the
disabled, especially in relation to its public transport system.

Fariz
Abd Rani, 33, said despite provision of facilities for the disabled is still
lagging in the State and particularly in the city, the situation has however
improved and for the better, since 2008.

“Our
(the disabled) rights are advocated with the assistance of the Cheshire Home
through its ‘Young Voices of Sabah’. This is a local group advocating for the
rights of the disabled through which we learn a lot about confidence-building
to enable us to help others who have basically given up on life,” he said.

The
Ministry of Community Development and Consumer Affairs also lends its voice to
speak for the rights of the disabled.

Quoting
the launching of a disabled-friendly premises at Wisma Tun Fuad Stephens, Fariz
said it was reflective of the ministry’s concern for the disabled.

“The
facilities include a special elevator, toilets and doors which facilitate
easier access for us to move around in the building,” said Fariz, the
receipient of the ‘Anugerah Sukarelawan Kebajikan Muda’ in 2011.

He
said the most challenging part is surmounting the non-friendly public transport
system towards the disabled in the city.

“It
is by no means an easy feat to take a ride on the public transport if no
facility for the disabled is provided. The operators feel compelled and
burdened just to give us a ride.

“I
once experienced an occasion where a taxi driver left my cousin and I to rue
only because of my condition as a paraplegic who uses a wheelchair to move
about. My cousin is a normal person. When the taxi driver saw I was on a
wheelchair, he simply left us to our own device,” he said relating some of the
sour moments he has gone through.

“I
understand the situation and I am conscious of the fact that the awareness
level among the able-bodied people to lend credible assistance to the disabled
is sadly still very low indeed,” he lamented.

But
there is still a glimmer of hope that facilities for the disabled in the State
or for a start, in the city, could be instituted and improved and that more
disabled-friendly buildings would be built in the future, he added.

Without
any cynicism intended, Fariz stated that it would render irrelevant even if all
the buildings were disabled-friendly, if connectivity for the disabled to gain
access into those structures remains unresolved.

When
he spoke of connectivity, the public transport system has to be essentially
equipped with disabled-friendly facilities operated by dignified and
understanding able-bodied humans.

A
road accident some 14 years ago has left Fariz with a spinal cord injury which
rendered him a paraplegic.

“I
was then a first-year undergraduate in Applied Physics at Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia (UKM) when it occurred.

“After
the accident, I just stayed home without any thought of doing anything at all,
for all I did was eat, sleep and watched the TV,” he said.

Three
years down the road, he finally came to his senses and decided to continue
pursuing for a more meaningful life.

“The
first year after the accident was a period of struggle with my own emotion. It
was not easy to accept the fact that I had become a disabled person.

“The
second year was a period of re-assessment and that was when I started thinking
rationally to determine until when would I want to stay at home doing nothing.
It wasn’t until the third year after the trauma that it dawned on me that it
was more meaningful to come out of my shell and face the real world to start a
new life,” he said.

Without
the support and love from family members, he would have given up on life.

“Family
support is very important. During the three-year period, they were the ones who
had to fight their own emotional battles to encourage and help me to continue
with my life. They were the ones who gave me unqualified moral support and
encouragement. Without them, I would not be where I am now,” he recalled
unabashedly.

Fariz
is the founder of Syarikat Jasa Bumi Prosthetic, the first Bumiputera company
in the State to manufacture prostheses for the hands and legs and the company’s
office is located at Central Plaza, Kepayan Ridge.

In
order to understand his customers better, Fariz is currently pursuing an
academic programme at the Open University Malayisa (OUM) leading to the
bachelor’s degree in Psychology.

“I
want to reach out to my clients, especially those who give up on life. With a
degree in psychology, I will be armed with knowledge that can come in handy.

“Thus
far, I rely on my personal experience and journey to motivate others, and I
usually tell them that they each have promising futures since they can still
work and socialise with people, like me” said Fariz.

Recalling
the time he first set foot at OUM, there was no facility provided for the
disabled and he took it upon himself to discuss with the power that be and
proposed for the installation of facilities to turn the building into one that
is disabled-friendly.

“I
was fortunate that the principal accepted my proposal and currently there are
several disabled people studying in OUM,” he said.

Sharing
the same thought and expressing almost similar sentiment, Francis Xavier Kijan,
28, of Penampang, said the public transportation system and building structures
in and around the city are not equipped with any facility for the disabled.

Kijan
said to have been born as a disabled has made him resolutely strong to carry on
with life.

The
youngest son of five children, he said his experience working as a mechanic has
led him to modify a motorcycle for his own use.

He
is currently gainfully employed in a pastry café at Central Plaza, Kepayan
Ridge and admitted to facing innumerable challenges in life as a disabled
person but for him nothing is impossible.

When
he initially started working the people around him were not confident as to his
capability and he has a burning desire for success to prove that he can do too
whatever able-bodied people can do.

“I
worked as a welder for four years and later worked as a mechanic.

“I
have an ambition to work in the broadcasting field and the Cheshire Home sent
two of us to attend a one-month course in Broadcasting and Film Making in 2010
in Sri Lanka. And that was sufficient to make me possess the experience to
venture into this field,” he said with an air of confidence.

** Published on May 10, The Borneo Post (Kota Kinabalu, Sabah)

Fariz Abd Razi

Francis Xavier Kijan is using the automatic 'OKU lift'

Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun is helping one of the OKU to pass through the automatic door